Pat Venditte labored for parts of eight seasons in the minor leagues to become an overnight sensation.
He did it by pitching with both his left and right hand in his Major League debut. The A’s pitcher was the first pitcher in two decades to do it, and unlike Greg Harris, who did it in the final game of his career in 1995, being a switch-pitcher is what Venditte does.
Before he could do it, he had to walk down the wooden steps from the visitor’s clubhouse in Fenway Park steps and through the concrete tunnel that leads to the field.